


With Ice

by Trickster_Angel



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Banter, Crushes, Gen, Post-Avengers (2012), Pre-Slash, whether or not Tony realizes it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:21:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26638765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trickster_Angel/pseuds/Trickster_Angel
Summary: Loki and Tony talk after the attack on New York. It doesn't go as Tony expects.
Relationships: Bruce Banner & Tony Stark, Pre Loki/Tony Stark
Comments: 8
Kudos: 104
Collections: Fandom Trumps Hate 2020





	With Ice

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Read_Like_Youre_Running_Out_of_Time (Jantique)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jantique/gifts).



> Written for Jantique for Fandom Trumps Hate 2020

They’d won. Loki had been stopped, the Chitauri were defeated, and New York City hadn’t been nuked. They’d even gotten their Shawarma, allowing S.H.I.E.L.D. to take Loki into custody. 

But, it had been a few days. S.H.I.E.L.D. promised that everything was under control but when did that ever stop Tony? Sure, he had a building to redo after it had been destroyed and a superhero boyband to work with but that didn’t stop his curiosity.

And Tony was intrigued by Loki. 

Jarvis was watching him, collecting file after file. Body makeup, magical power, his habits, everything was stored away. Thor would disapprove, if he knew. It wasn't hard to keep it secret though. He was busy making the arrangements to take Loki back to Asgard. And Fury didn't care, hell, he encouraged it in so much that Fury encourages _anything_. 

As for if Loki knew, he didn't say anything. He didn't say anything at all. He sometimes watched the cameras curiously, but never for long. He showed off his magic a little, again, not for long. Just long enough for Jarvis to collect the data. Despite the few seconds of activity, it gave Tony hours, if not days, of work to analyze it. 

"You know you're obsessed, right?" Bruce said, breaking Tony from his spell. 

"I think that's up to the individual to determine," Tony replied. He was rewatching a video of Loki performing some kind of magic. It was green and almost glittered in the air. He'd made the glitter hop from one hand to the other, then it was banished. Tony had those seven seconds of footage on a loop. He'd stared at it for he didn't even know how long. He watched the energy signatures rise, temperature in the cell slightly cooling as the magical light formed and rising as it disappeared. 

"Are you saying you're not obsessed?"

"There's a thin line between curious and obsessed. I think I'm on the former side."

"Jarvis, how many times has Tony repeated that clip?" Bruce asked the air.

Tony opened his mouth just as Jarvis spoke, "Three hundred and seventy-four."

Tony sighed. His own invention sold him out. Or maybe he liked Bruce.

"I think you're obsessed," Bruce said.

"What's wrong with trying to learn more about the Asgardians?"

"You don't do this to Thor," Bruce said.

"Thor isn't here. Loki is."

"Which is why you're only doing this now, unlike when Thor was here."

"He wouldn't have liked it."

"And Loki does?"

Tony looked back at the camera and he was met with Loki's gaze. He looked at the camera curiously. Tony was reminded of a cobra, mesmerizing its prey before it struck. But that would make Loki the cobra and Tony the prey. Considering Loki was the one caged, Tony didn't like that comparison.

"Honestly, I think he does," Tony said, "He seems to revel in the spotlight."

"You could just go talk to him," Bruce suggested, "If he wants attention, he'd probably like it."

Tony scoffed, "Because that will go well. You know he's a trickster, right? Can't trust one damn word he says. If Fury doesn't take me out before I get there."

"Fury knows you're watching the monitors. Talking to Loki isn't that different."

"Maybe later," Tony said dismissively and went back to his video. The heat map showed Loki's hands were cold as he did magic. Much colder than any human. Tony had to wonder what that meant.

* * *

Bruce was a nuisance. His little suggestion was buzzing in Tony's head and wouldn't leave. He'd watch Loki in his cell and want to talk. Like that little conversation they'd had right before Tony had been thrown out a window. Maybe Loki would actually be honest with him, but Tony doubted it. Either way, it would be interesting, for scientific purposes. And that was the _only_ reason, no matter what Bruce insinuated. 

So Tony walked down to Loki's cell. It was buried so far beneath the earth that it took Tony ten minutes to get there. This was much higher security than that dinky little cell on the helicarrier. But Loki was able to escape _way_ too easily last time. Fury, and anyone with sense, didn't want that to happen again.

"I wondered when one of you would come," a voice purred. 

Because Loki could sense him before Tony did. Of course.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Tony replied, and now Loki came into view. He looked no different than the last time Tony had seen him. The injuries still littered his skin. Tony wondered if he could heal them himself. He seemed powerful enough. But then he probably would have. Unless he was trying to seem weaker than he was. Tony's mind was running in too many circles.

"Have you gotten what you wanted?" Loki asked, "Or did you want to see me in person this time?" 

Tony wanted to make an intelligent quip. Instead he said, "What?"

"This device follows me as I move," Loki said, nodding towards the camera. To prove it, he backed up and the camera moved to put him back in view. "So you must be observing me. I assumed that the one who is watching me would want to see me in person. And here you are."

"That's a lot of assumptions," Tony said, crossing his arms.

"But am I incorrect?" Loki asked.

"The one in the cell usually doesn't ask the questions," Tony said, entirely to dodge the question. Loki was _good._ More observant than Thor and more intuitive. No wonder he was such a threat.

"No. So what would you ask me?" Loki leaned forward. 

Tony was reminded of that cobra again. But he was safely inside the cell. Tony hoped.

"What was the point?" Tony asked, "You brought down an army on New York. You had the tesseract. Why stay?"

Loki smiled, all teeth. "Your myths call me the trickster, the god of mischief."

"Is that all it was for?"

"Would you believe my answer anyway?"

"Depends on the answer. Because where I'm standing, you had victory and you lost it."

"Did I?"

"You don't have the tesseract, you brought together an army of superheroes-"

"Heroes maybe. Not superheroes," Loki said.

"And why not?" 

"Barton and Romanov are skilled, but not super. And what are you without your suit?"

"Genius billionaire playboy philanthropist. Nobody remembers that," Tony muttered. 

Loki smiled at him. Before, it seemed so sinister. Now, it was more playful, maybe. This felt like a game to him. At least, that's the impression he got from Loki. See which one of them could get the other to reveal more. 

"You didn't answer my question," Tony said.

"You didn't answer mine," Loki replied, "What are you to this team without your suit?"

"Well, I'm never without my suit, so I guess we'll never know."

"Are you without it now?"

"No, I've got it." Tony had the bracelet at least. His suit would be here in a matter of seconds. But Loki didn't have to know there was a delay. 

"You're a clever man," Loki said.

"So I've been told. I've answered your question, answer mine."

"How do you know I failed? Maybe it's part of my plan."

"Yeah, I doubt that."

"Believe what you will. They always do."

"I guess being the god of lies means no one believes you," Tony said, "Must be lonely."

"How so?"

"Being the only one who knows what you mean. No one can read you or believe you. So you can't be trusted. Can you even trust yourself?"

"I am the only person I can trust."

"Not even Thor?"

Loki rolled his eyes. "Thor is a fool."

"You could, you know, try to be nice to him. He cares about you, despite having every reason not to."

"And that makes him a fool. I obviously can't be trusted."

"You care, don't you?" Tony said.

"Because my multiple attempts to murder my brother are indicative of my love for him," Loki lied. 

"Look, I know all about difficult familial relationships. Why push him away if you care? You two must have god-sized problems."

"Have we talked enough about me?" Loki asked, "What of your difficult familial relationships?"

"We're not talking about me."

"But we already have."

Damn, but was Loki good at the banter. A worthy rival of Tony himself. He was almost enjoying himself.

"I'd rather talk more about Thor than my father. What could he have done to piss you off this much?"

"What did your father do to you?"

"We're not talking daddy issues."

"I was always second best to my father," Loki said, "He doted on Thor, _knew_ he would be king. I could never live up to all Thor promised. He was arrogant, and foolish. He would not be a good king."

Tony didn't really like having _this much_ in common with the guy who just trashed New York. He didn't know whether it spoke well for Loki or poorly for him. That he could have become Loki under different circumstances.

"And you would be better?" He said, wanting to change the topic.

"Isn't that what we all think? We can do everything best? Who is truly the best person to pilot your suit? You? Or did you create it, and therefore wear it? Is there no one else more suited to be Iron Man?"

"I didn't come down here to play mind games with you," Tony said.

"That's exactly why you're here." Loki walked forward so he and Tony were standing a foot apart, separated only by the glass of the cell. His eyes were so green. "Let's not pretend otherwise. I've given you a lot. It's your turn."

Loki's eyes were ice blue, vibrantly so. Tony had seen the videos. Why were they green?

"Obviously I'm the best person to be Iron Man," Tony said, "I made the suit. It's designed for me."

"Could you not design it for someone else? If you _are_ a genius, surely it would be simple."

"I _am_ a genius."

Loki smiled and leaned towards him. "Is that not what I said?"

"When you say it, it sounds like an insult."

Loki cocked his head a little with an unspoken question, although Tony didn't know which one. With that smile, he looked like he was scheming something. But Tony wasn't afraid. If anything he was intrigued. He almost wanted to let Loki out, just to see what he'd do, to figure out what he was planning. Because if he and Loki were anything alike, then he'd have plans on top of plans for after this. And Tony was sure they were alike.

"Stark!" Fury's voice echoed through the chamber. Loki looked up as if he'd see Fury descend from the rafters. 

"Well, duty calls," Tony said. He was _so_ gonna get chewed out. "I'll see you around."

“You know,” Loki said as he turned around to leave, “You never gave me that drink.”

Tony couldn’t help but smirk. He turned back around to face Loki. “Sure. What’ll you have?”

"What would you recommend?"

"For you, scotch. You'd probably like it."

Loki smiled. "I'll have that. With ice."

Tony turned away to go meet up with Fury, his curiosity left unsatisfied. Loki didn't answer his questions and only raised new ones. Tony still wanted to talk, to understand. He didn't know why he was so intrigued by this god.

* * *

One thorough chewing out later, about not fraternizing with the prisoner and all that, Tony was back to watching the security footage. Despite the one way connection, Loki was looking back at him. 

"Talking didn't help?" Bruce asked, peering over Tony's shoulder to look at the feed.

"He's too slippery," Tony replied, "You think you have an answer and an hour later, you realize you got nothing except his daddy issues."

"So why are you still watching?" Bruce asked, "You're not gonna get anything out of him."

"That's where you're wrong," Tony said, "I'll get somewhere with him." After all, Tony still owed him a drink with ice. There was too much potential for that promise to go unfulfilled. 

**Author's Note:**

> It's been awhile since I published anything for MCU. It's nice to be back. :)  
> Thank you for reading. Please leave a comment or kudos if you enjoyed the story. 
> 
> If you'd like to see sneak previews of my upcoming works and get writing tips, please check out my writing blog: a-writing-trickster-angel.tumblr.com


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